This section presents the ongoing Service Learning projects during the 2024/2025 academic year at the Brescia, Piacenza and Cremona campuses of the Università Cattolica.
Sportello giuridico a favore delle persone private della libertà personale (Legal desk for persons deprived of liberty)
Faculty involved: Economics and Law
Campus: Piacenza
Project coordinators: Professor Roberta Casiraghi; Professor Francesco Centonze; Professor Priscilla Bertelloni
Academic year of implementation: 2024/2025
This project is the result of a collaboration between the University and the Piacenza Correctional Facility. It is structured into two main phases:
- Front office activities: University students, adequately trained and accompanied by a faculty supervisor, enter the correctional facility to collect requests from inmates.
- Analysis and research activities: At the University, participating students examine the legal issues raised, identify best practices, and, where possible, draft legal petitions. They work in groups, sharing their experiences and conducting legal and jurisprudential research.
The project also includes opportunities for discussion with the Interuniversity Center "L'altro diritto" and other legal clinics operating in various Italian prisons. These meetings allow for an analysis of the results achieved, reflection on the objectives met and challenges encountered, and improvements to the educational path offered to students.
Service Learning objectives
- The project provides students with an experiential learning opportunity aimed at:
- Deepening their theoretical and practical knowledge of criminal law.
- Developing practical skills in criminal procedure law.
- Gaining direct exposure to the prison system.
- Acquiring expertise in drafting legal documents.
- Experiencing a formative journey on both a human and social level.
- Applying their skills to support a vulnerable group, offering listening and assistance to inmates.
- Overcoming prejudices and stereotypes associated with individuals deprived of their liberty.
Duration and organization
The project spans an entire academic year, starting in late September and concluding in late July. Students, organized into rotating shifts, alternate between a two-hour session in prison and a one-and-a-half-hour session in the classroom.
La mediazione in lingua cinese per l’inclusione degli alunni sinofoni (Mediation in Chinese language for the inclusion of sinophone students)
Faculty involved: Linguistic Sciences and Foreign Literatures
Campus: Brescia
Project coordinator: Dr. Enrica Peracin
Academic year of implementation: 2024/2025
The project, now in its second edition, involves a group of students enrolled in the "Chinese Language and Culture" course in a linguistic support activity for Chinese-speaking pupils attending primary and lower secondary school at the Arici School Institute in Brescia.
To ensure continuity and systematic monitoring of learning outcomes while fostering relationships, each university student follows the educational journey of a Chinese-speaking pupil, offering individualized and personalized interventions based on specific needs. Activities include support for literacy and linguistic mediation during curricular hours, as well as assistance with homework during extracurricular hours.
Service Learning objectives
- Apply knowledge of the Chinese language and culture in an extracurricular activity aimed at the literacy development of Chinese-speaking students;
- Enhance Chinese language proficiency through dialogue with Chinese-speaking pupils and the preparation of teaching materials;
- Reflect on the interaction between Chinese and Italian linguistic structures in Chinese-speaking learners;
- Actively collaborate with university professors and staff from the host institution;
- Build an active and productive relationship with the Chinese-speaking students benefiting from the service to deliver it effectively and engagingly;
- Citizenship skills: Develop a greater awareness of the real challenges faced by Chinese children in integrating into the school and social community. Experience being promoters of acts of hospitality, support, and openness (to cultural diversity) capable of positively shaping the perception of Italian society by the Chinese children involved in the project.
Duration and organization
Activities take place from October to December. The time commitment required from university students ranges from 3 to 5 hours per week, for a maximum total of 25 hours.
Al di là della rete (Beyond the net)
Faculty involved: Psychology
Campus: Brescia
Project coordinator: Professor Livia Cadei
Academic year of implemenation: 2024/2025
This project, now in its second edition, involves a group of female students who will participate in activities at a reception center for refugees, managed by the Kemay social cooperative and located next to the Via della Garzetta campus in Brescia.
The students will work alongside and support the staff in both planning and carrying out the daily activities organized by the center, as well as in developing initiatives aimed at raising awareness, fostering socialization, and facilitating interaction. These initiatives aim to support the inclusion of refugees and increase their visibility in the local neighborhood.
Service Learning objectives
- Promote understanding of issues related to immigration dynamics;
- Engage in direct interaction with others and contribute to the organization of activities supporting reception and integration, applying both personal and developing professional skills;
- Reflect on the significance of intercultural experiences and the dimensions of social integration.
Duration and organization
The activities take place from October to December 2024, spanning a total of 10 weeks. Student participation is required during specific time slots, three days a week.